Because the Positive will Always Overcome the Negative

Although my last post was fairly negative, I generally try to write about things from a positive perspective. I may talk about something negative if it has been affecting me for some time, but if MOTH Dude and I get in to a little fight or if someone at work or a friend says something that hurts my feelings, I don't come on here and lash out at them right away. I know it is a momentary bump in the road in our relationship/friendships. Don't get me wrong, there have been times I've wanted to be immature and air some dirty laundry on here, but once it's on here anyone can read it and even though I give psuedonym's to everyone, if you know me, it is easy to figure out who everyone is.

The benefit of technology is that it allows people to have a voice and to share that voice with a wider audience than was ever available before. The downside to technology is that people seem to forget that what you put out in to the internet never really goes away. So if you put something out there, you have to be willing to own it.

I'll get to the specific event I'm speaking about in just a moment here, but when called my Mom on advice on how to proceed on what I had found, she talked about how one of her friend's daughters had broken up with a boy and the boy got so mad he started a website about what a drunk and a slut this girl is. Now, whenever you Google the girl, that stuff comes up about her. How horrible, right? Even if these things were true, does the girl deserve to have that out there for future employers to see?

I, myself, Googled someone the other day who had been really, really mean to me for no reason just to see what was out there about him. With only his first and last name, I found out a ton about him and on the very first search result linked to his name found his cell number and his personal email address. If I was a vindictive person, there's lots of bad stuff I could do with that information alone.

Technology is changing so rapidly and is such a useful tool, but sometimes we get complacent about what we put out there about others and the information that we share to the world about ourselves.

So on to why I'm posting about this today: MOTH Dude and I are heading back to California in a month and a half to visit family and friends and to start looking at wedding venues and meet with potential vendors. I've made a wedding inspiration board and have a good idea based on our style and our budget on what we are after. In conjunction with the wedding planning process, part of my daily internet routine now includes checking out a couple wedding blogs to see if any of the weddings featured are using the colors or details we like in a way we haven't thought of. I also read a forum site where brides ask each other things like where to find the perfect blue shoes or what a reasonable cost in NY is for a wedding cake or what should they do to make their DIY centerpieces nicer. Part of the forum is dedicated to family topics and bridesmaids and honeymoons, as well. What I generally do is go on and look at the first 5 pages of forum topics. These are all the posts from any of the sections (honeymoons, shoes, family, etc) that have been commented on most recently.

This morning, while MOTH was at church and I was waiting on the first load of laundry, I scanned through the first 5 pages as per usual and opened in a new tab any topics that were relevant to me and a few about people venting about problems they are having in planning their weddings. One of the topics I opened was "MOH from Hell". (For those not in the throes of wedding planning, MOH = Maid of Honor.)

I'm reading through the post and the author was frustrated with her Maid of Honor because she thought she was being too controlling, too negative, and wanted to go on a $500 cruise for a bachelorette weekend (which may sound extravagant to some, but I've had a few friends in Orange County do this now, so while it does seem like an expensive party, it's not so far fetched for our area/friend group) but then was worried about how much being a bridesmaid was going to cost her. The friend asked the bride to provide her with a spreadsheet on what she should be expecting to pay to participate in the wedding, which is a contrast to being able to drop $500 for a weekend cruise, but not an unreasonable request. The bride first writes that she is unsure 12 months out from the wedding how much everything will cost, (which I can relate to because I have no idea how much I'll be asking my girls to spend, but want to keep it low for them) but then the bride writes out how much the bridesmaid dress she likes costs, how much for the shoes she wants them to get are, and how much for their hair/makeup and comes up with a figure of $256.

She then rips in to her Maid of Honor saying she thought she'd be the perfect person to pick as she works in the industry. She then starts to talk about the friend's family's financial background and talks about how it shouldn't worry the Maid of Honor as they are well off. Then things get really nasty and the bride starts to talk about really personal things that have happened to the girl, once again, on a public forum where anyone can read it.

Well, as I'm reading the post, I think to myself, "Gee, that sounds like the life of one of my friends as far as school and work goes and she does come from a comfortable family, but I have never heard a negative word from her about anything and when I showed her my wedding idea board she had nothing but nice things to say and made some cool suggestions, too." So I went on Facebook and was going to link to the forum post on my friend's wall for a laugh, but then I thought, "Nah, I'll private message her."

So I'm writing this note: Hey Hottie, How's life? You're not a Maid of Honor for anyone are you? There is a post on this website (link to website) about some girl, but I don't think anyone could ever write something like that about you. Anyway, there is someone else in your city, living your life, and they also went to your same college...Better find out who your competition is! ;)

But before I hit send, I get a funny feeling and think I should check out the bride's profile to see if there was any link between her and my friend...like same age or high school or neighborhood. I click on her Bio page and there is a description and picture of each of her bridesmaids and lo and behold, my friend is at the top under Maid of Honor. It doesn't give her full name, thank god, just her first name but there she is in picture form for everyone to see who exactly the bride has been talking about.

I didn't know what to do so I called my Mom. I gave her a general run down of what I had found and my Mom said that this was the trouble with technology and that I should just sit on it. And I said, "Really? Don't do anything? Let me just read you exactly what was written." So I did and then said again how my friend's picture was easily linked to the post. Mom thought it was pretty awful and suggested that I wait to see if the bride posts anything later because the last thing the bride wrote was how she was going out with the Maid of Honor and another bridemaid tonight, to see if maybe she and my friend get things worked out, and if not, to contact my friend tomorrow to let her know this information is out there on the internet about her.

Whether what the bride wrote about the friend is true or untrue (I really don't know), I don't think she had the right to post those things about my friend, when there is a picture that everyone can see of her on the same site.

So two questions for you:

1) How would you proceed from here? (Would you only let my friend know if they bride continued to post negative stuff about her? Or should she know what is already out there about her?)

2)Would you want to know someone had written stuff about you like that online or since it won't come up in a Google search of your name, would you rather be left in the dark?

Ok, how about a third:

Have you ever found something written online about you, bad or good, that you didn't know existed? How did it make you feel? What did you do?

Through the Years We All Will Be Together, If the Fates Allow

I've taken an unplanned hiatus from blogging recently . I've had things to write about, but not the drive to write them down. When I was unemployed and by myself all day long most days of the week, any little event seemed worth chronicling, but now that I have a job that I have to get up and go to I am too damn tired to write most nights once I'm home and I feel like the little things aren't as interesting to blog about (Do you really want to hear about my week on the phones like how one lady called me an idiot, another guy yelled at me and told my manager I should be fired, even though I followed privacy laws/company policy to a T, how I nearly acquired a Nigerian boyfriend, and how one lady turned on and off the water works and asked why I had brought up her baby that had died years ago from SIDS (which for the record, I obviously hadn't)? Hey, now that I've given the brief overview of my week on the phones, it actually does seem kind of entertaining!).

I guess the other thing that has kept me from blogging recently is that part of my tag line is about living Down Under and "having the time of my life." Recently living here has felt like more of a chore than an adventure. I'm not putting my degree to use, we live in a shack, I drive an hour to work one way while MOTH Dude takes the train two hours in the other direction everyday, and I'm missing my family like crazy.

Call me stupid, crazy, delusional, whatever, but I never thought I'd have to miss out on having the holidays with my family. Thanksgiving was depressing enough, going to work as if it was just any other day, and to think of Christmas without my family is like a knife in the heart (Oh man, sorry for sounding like some emo 15 year old, but that's what it feels like!). Add to that Nae's murky departure date for South Africa and I'm just a little ball of emotion thinking about my family right now.

The thing is, I've felt really guilty for not blogging, even though at this point I'm pretty well convinced I have about two readers-not even my Mom is following along these days! Most days, if I make it awake past dinner time, I do think about writing an entry but I haven't had anything positive to say. I think I just need to get through the holidays and I'll be better. Until I am, I'm giving myself the permission to take the pressure off. I don't have to blog if I don't have anything nice to say and maybe without the guilt, I'll suddenly feel like writing a whole lot again.

Fingers crossed I snap out of this funk sometime soon because, if not for MOTH Dude, the bumper sticker I keep seeing "If You Don't Love It (Australia), Leave It" is starting to make a lot of sense to me.

Feel the Silence

Still not a lot to write about around here. It's amazing how the weeks are flying by now that I'm working. Sure, each day feels long, but I get to Friday and wonder where the week has gone. So yeah, work, work, work and then it's the weekend and we have been having some pretty lazy Saturdays where we fit in a trip to the beach for a walk or to sit up on the cliff and read and then grab some dinner. Last Sunday we had our friends over for a barbecue but it wasn't anything wild- just sitting around eating and talking.

We finally ordered our engagement party invitations last Saturday and they were here by Wednesday so I need to get on mailing those out. I'll try and get MOTH Dude to do some Photoshop magic on them so you guys can see what they look like. We really like them because they look like postcards from Hawaii and our engagement party is luau themed. I should probably try and do some trial runs on all the recipes I've found before I make them for 80 people because I wouldn't to have gross food that nobody touches on the day. I'm a little bit nervous to try and cook for so many people with our tiny little stove, but luckily most of my girls have said they'd be willing to pitch in a make a dish or two! I really wish my parents and Nae could come out for the party and for a visit, but it's just not going to happen so I'm sad about that and know they are, too.

Anyway, sorry for the snooze-fest that is my life these days and sorry for the lack of postings, but as you can tell, there isn't much to post about. I'll try and get the invite up soon and share any Hawaiian recipes we end up loving.

I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me

Uh Oh! I've been noticing in my Google Analytics that I have been getting lots of hits under search terms like "juggalos" and "the gathering" based on this post I wrote in October of last year. I hope I am not about to be flamed by any juggalos or juggalettes! I'm scared!

And I Won't Tell 'Em Your Name

We've been engaged for exactly 4 months now and I still don't know what to call Boyfriend, at least as far as the blog goes. Calling him Fiance as a pseudonym seems lame. Referring to him as my Fiance in general still seems strange. I read this online Cosmo article the other day that said something about getting engaged is so cool because "you no longer have to refer to him as your boyfriend, which sounds so childish, now you can be an adult and call him your Fiance." I just think the word sounds so posh and uppity and even if that is what Boyfriend now is, I feel dumb saying it, unless I can use it to my advantage -like sometimes if I enter an online giveaway for a cooking appliance or something, I'll make sure to mention the fact that I'm newly engaged and my Fiance and I need stuff for the house (which is true) but I don't go saying to other people "Oh my Fiance this and that..." So the search is on for a new blog name for the man in my life; maybe he'll just let me use his real name already? It would make writing about him easier because there have been plenty of times where I have slipped and just written in his name only to notice it a little while later and have had to come back and change it.

I made it a point to keep this blog semi-anonymous because no one else in my life signed up to be apart of it when I decided to do it, but now that they do know about it, some people don't care whether you know who they are or not, like Nae, and how she agreed to let me share photos of her on here. I also started out thinking I'd keep myself anonymous, but I don't mind that people know I'm Dana and not Little D. This blog is just an unlocked journal that whoever wants to can read; it's a positive thing so I don't need to hide behind anonymity, plus it's hard to stay anonymous when I link to the blog in my Yanks Down Under profile or to some of my posts on Facebook! I will still keep up the pseudonyms for our friends, though, because I think they prefer it that way and without knowing who they are in real life, I don't think it makes a difference to the stories I tell calling her M******, as opposed to the Hairdresser, for example.

Anyway, to wrap it up, if my main man does not let me use his name on the blog, does anyone have any suggestions on what I could start calling him?

I've Got You to Thank for This

Now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered!

This is the second of my giveaways to celebrate Little D Down Under's first blogiversary! The other one is running concurrently with this one so make sure you check it out, too.

Once again, because I am currently in California waiting for my visa back to Australia and back to my fiance, I've decided to do a Santa Cruz theme for the giveaways.

Here are the items you could win:

Another super soft and really cool shirt from Jesse and Nine Red! This one has an image of the Walton Lighthouse, which is located in the Santa Cruz Harbor, on it. It is a Small (unisex) and is the perfect shirt to pair with some cute jeans and some thongs or Vans for a morning at the Farmers' Market or for walking along West Cliff and watching the surfers and sea lions.

Be sure to check out Jesse's Santa Cruz Specials Blog, as well, any time you are headed out for food or drinks in Santa Cruz because he's got all the local deals right there in one spot for you and it's a super easy site to use!

Image via Mackenzies Chocolates.

You will also win two chocolate banana slugs- one peanut butter filled milk chocolate one and another unfilled one that looks just like the picture above. Banana slugs are native to the area and they are also the mascot for U.C. Santa Cruz. How fun is it that they get to yell "Go Slugs!" during their games?? It always made me laugh to hear my sister and her UCSC Girls' Water Polo teammates yell it at halftime.

The third thing you will win is a bar of Dr. Bronner's Certified Fair Trade, Hemp Peppermint Pure Castille Soap made with Organic Oils because Santa Cruz locals are all about fair trade and organic stuff.

How to Enter: (Please leave one comment per entry and be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win.)

1. Tell me what your favorite post from the blog has been this year and why. (You must do this one before any other entries)

2. Visit Nine Red and tell me what your favorite item is.

3. Become a follower of Little D Down Under.

4. Tweet or post a link to the giveaway on your Twitter/Facebook and leave me a comment with a link to it.

Edited to Add: There is now a 5th way to enter: become a follower of Nine Red's Blog

This giveaway is open to the U.S. and Australia. A winner will be picked on March 17, 2010 at 11:59 PM Pacific time. The winner will have 3 days to respond before another winner will be chosen.

Good luck and thanks for reading!

Thanx for Staying

Now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Wednesday marks the 1 year anniversary of this blog. I can't believe I've stuck it out a whole year already! I was never the type of girl who was good at keeping a journal so it has been surprising to me how much I have come to enjoy sharing on here. My friends sometimes ask, "Who reads this thing? Why do you have a blog?" and I really did just start it as a way to keep family and friends back home up to date on what I was doing in Australia and as a record for myself of all the fun times I've had because I have an atrocious memory and would probably forget some of it otherwise.

Since starting the blog, I've made some blogging friends and gained a few readers and I wanted to do something to show my appreciation for you guys so I'm doing two giveaways. Because I am still in California waiting for my De Facto Spouse Visa to be granted, I figured I'd have the theme of the giveaways be Santa Cruz.

With that in mind here is what you can win in giveaway number 1:

I love supporting local artists so I love the whole idea of Etsy. After doing a quick search on Etsy for "Santa Cruz" I came across Nine Red's shop. Jesse makes some really cool shirts that I feel really reflect our area. Not only do his shirts have cool designs, they are also incredibly soft. When I received them in the mail, I contemplated calling the giveaway off and just keeping the shirts for myself! This shirt also comes in red and pink so head on over to his shop to check them out for yourself. I have one shirt in teal, size Medium (unisex) to give away.

Also, if you are a local or plan on travelling to the area, Jesse runs a great blog about all the different bar and restaurant specials that are on in Santa Cruz, too. The site is really easy to use and lets you specify what day of the week you are looking to eat out on and what type of food you'd like to have and then quickly brings up all specials that fit your requirements. As someone on a tight budget, I will definitely be using his site to plan my next night out! Santa Cruz Specials

Along with the shirt you will also win 2 banana slug shaped chocolates from Mackenzies Chocolates. One slug is chocolate and filled with peanut butter and the other is all dark chocolate. The banana slug is the mascot for UC Santa Cruz and real banana slugs can be found living in the redwood forests around here!

Image via mackenzieschocolates.com

Finally, you will also win a bar of Ginger Almond Oatmeal soap from Trader Joe's because I think TJ's exemplifies the California lifestyle, I love it, and my sister works there!

Rules to Enter the Giveaway (Please leave a separate comment for each and make sure you provide me with your email address so I can contact you if you win.)

1. For the first entry you must tell me what your favorite post from this blog has been this year and why.

2. For an extra entry visit the Nine Red Etsy shop and tell me what your favorite item is.

3. For another additional entry, become a follower of Little D Down Under.

4. Finally, for a third additional entry Tweet (or put up a Facebook link) about this giveaway and send me the link of your tweet.

Edited to Add: There is now one additional way to enter: become a follower of Nine Red's blog

This contest is open to the U.S. and Australia and will close on March 17 at 11:59 Pacific Time. After the winner is picked, they will have 3 days to respond before a new winner will be picked.

Aliens Exist

Sorry for the lack of a post earlier today as promised. My computer has been hijacked by viruses so Boyfriend has been trying to fix it all day. I will try and get the pictures up tomorrow (Tuesday).

The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows

Sorry if you've stopped by hoping for a new post this week. I've been swamped at work so by the time I get home and make dinner for everyone, I'm pretty much ready to lay on my bed and talk to Boyfriend for a bit before passing out. Nevertheless, I'm really liking it. Sure, a lot of the stuff I do is repetitive, but the people I work with are really great and make being there enjoyable. It's funny all the random connections I've found out I have to people in my office, considering that I'm not even from this area and know one other person besides my family here!

I'm stoked because I've been asked to come in for the Monday after Christmas to help sort out all the delivery mishaps that happen Christmas Eve that we won't be in to deal with. A) It means a little bit more money and B) It means I get to hang out with everyone for one more day. I think that I will ask the family to keep me in mind for office help next Christmas Season, if they'll have me, because I have always enjoyed working for family businesses....there's and at Jack's.

Everyone has really flattered me at the office over the past few days, too, because I have been bringing in treats and they said the cupcakes I brought in yesterday were so good that I should think about going in to business with them. Which is funny because before Boyfriend got here Mom, Dad, and I were discussing that I should start a bake stand since Australia has a shitty selection of baked goods and I really enjoy baking. So I think I'm going to start trying to sell my baked goods on the weekends and on days when I don't get substitute teaching work and see how that goes (but I might wait until after the hottest days of summer are over before I start so that my frosting actually stays on the cupcakes rather than melting in to a puddle next to the cupcakes)!

Anyway, it's a dream, an adventure, and something to look forward to so we'll see how it pans out. Boyfriend seems a little sketchy on the idea because he's got his fingers crossed that I'll fall in to a full time job, or at least get a lot more substitute work, this year and can actually start pulling my weight with the bills. Which is completely understandable. He isn't my sugar daddy, as much as I joke that he is, and I would like for us to have equal roles in the money making. But having this as a side project and as a way to make at least a few bucks on days when I don't get called in to a school can't hurt, can it? He's willing to let me have a shot at it for now and that's all I can ask of him. When I am Australia's answer to Paula Deen (or who's a hotter TV show chef, isn't there someone cute named Giada or something?), he'll be glad that he gave me some support on this business venture!

Tomorrow Nae, Boyfriend and I are shopping it up at the Gilroy Outlet Mall. We still need to find some things for our Mom and there are also Hurley, Volcom, Quiksilver, and Billabong stores there that Boyfriend will probably want to stop in to and stock up on clothes for the year from. We'll probably also make ourselves sick on Animal Style Burgers (or Grilled Cheeses) and Fries at some point in the day because right next to the mall is the only In-N-Out anywhere close to where we live. It should make for an exhausting day! Sunday, I might go in and help at the office if they need me, for a couple of hours and if not, I think I will sleep in, take a nap, wash my work clothes, and finish up my DeFacto Spouse Visa paperwork (by the way-if anyone has any tips, tricks, or words of advice on the Visa paperwork, I'd be glad to hear it) and then it is the final, big push until Christmas at work. I get Christmas Eve off and I think Boyfriend and I are going to attempt to make homemade gnocchi that night.

So I guess, really, when I sit down and think/write about it, things aren't as quiet as I thought they've been around here!

Hope you aren't too cold/too hot (depending on your Hemisphere) where ever you're reading this from and that you have a fun and relaxing weekend ahead of you...

P.S. I'm sure it's not too late to buy your favorite blogger (that's me) something amazing from her Amazon wish list or to send her a big, fat check for keeping you mildly amused over the course of most of the last year. Just a suggestion! ;D

You Oughta Know

I'm a little worried posting this...you might read it and never come back! I guess it's a risk I'm willing to take because I thought it was fun and funny to write and hey, you guys deserve to know all about the big dork I really am! So here it goes:

10 Things You Didn't Know About Little D (aka 10 Things You Didn't Want/Need to Know About Little D)

1)I hate flying. It's two months out from my trip home and I'm already thinking about the flight and dreading it. When I book flights I think to myself "Am I sealing my fate? Did I just pick the one flight that week that is going to go down? Should I rebook? But then what if that's the one that goes down?" I used to be prescribed Xanax for flying because I get that nervous. I'd still take it, but I don't have anyone to prescribe it to me anymore. Weird habit for someone who chooses to live thousands of miles away from their family, thus ensuring at least two 14 hour flights home a year, right?

2) I freak out in crowds. I hate people touching me, being too close to me, blocking my way when i've got things to do...whether it's picking out movies or grocery shopping, I panic or get really pissed off and it's a toss up on any given day which it'll be between panicked or pissy. This amuses Boyfriend to no end and he sometimes laughs about how frustrated I get and other times he's really nice and can foresee when the crowds are going to get to me and gets me out of the situation as quickly as possible.

3) I became a vegetarian for a few years starting at age 11 because Jonathon Taylor Thomas did an interview in Teen Beat or some magazine like that where he said he'd only ever date a fellow vegetarian. I didn't know when or where I'd meet JTT but I wanted to have at least that one thing going for me if we ever did meet and he suddenly wanted to date me!

4) I used to have OCD (self diagnosed, but whatever, minor detail) as a child, probably around the age of 10-11 and everything I had to do had to be even....if I ate a bite of food and chewed it on my left side, well then my right side and in the middle had to have a bite chewed there as well. I had to eat an even number of chips or crackers or whatever, I had to flip a switch 2 times or 4 times, but never 1 or 3 times....I wanted things to be fair and I didn't want to hurt these inanimate objects' feelings....One day I finally realized that my little ticks were taking over and decided to try and stop them. I still catch myself from time to time moving different bites of food across my mouth so that things are fair and even, but for the most part I was able to unteach myself my OCD habits. The one thing that I still do(and it's funny given my love of all things being even, I think it has something with me wanting life to be fair and my Mom telling me constantly when I was little that "Life's not fair.") is that I have to wake up on an odd numbered time...the number has to end in a 1, 3, 7, or 9....I even leave out the 5 because it's half way through 0-9. It's the one habit that I just can't shake.

5) The first big concert I ever went to was the Rolling Stones with my Mom, Dad, and Nae when we were probably around 12 years old. It was at Dodger's Stadium and we had seats on the field pretty close to the stage and I thought the whole thing was so neat, but me and Nae kept complaining about the "funny smelling smoke" all around us!

6)For my 18th birthday I asked my parents for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young tickets and that's what we did...Me, Mom, Dad, Nae and Nae's boyfriend at the time went and rocked out and it was really special. I went through a classic rock phase (I still love it, just don't have it on repeat like I did then). I also used the song "Teach Your Children Well" as the song on my Senior page in the yearbook. (I've also seen Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, Neil Young on his own, Paul McCartney, and James Taylor over the years and about 100 other bands that aren't classic rock.)

7) I was on the yearbook staff my Senior year and it was really fun and I got to meet some good people and use 6th period as a time to just hang out, though I probably should've worked harder and actually met some deadlines.

8) The only school dance I ever really had fun at was at Senior Prom and that's because I went with my whole group of friends finally and my date was a really good friend, the Captain of the High School Football Team. I was really late to our meeting spot and he was really frustrated as I was holding up the whole group, but when he saw me he said the best thing ever, that "he couldn't be mad at me anymore because I looked so good." Swoon! We had a great time: he said something silly to me as our photo was being taken so I love our picture together because I've got the biggest smile on my face, we danced a slow song together but weren't together together so I was free to mingle with everyone and take pictures with a bunch of friends and not be glued to his side the whole night or expected to dance with only him, and at the end of the night since we weren't having prom night sex he serenaded me with this reggae song that I always used to love how he sang and then we partied it up and spent the night together (but once again, not together together) at one of our friends' houses with the whole group.

9) I have the biggest mouth in the world and am awful at keeping secrets, though I really am working on it this year and so far I have 3 secrets from various people that I've managed fairly well to keep secret. Boyfriend and Nae both laugh over my big mouth and commiserate with each other about how their embarrassing moments are never kept private. Oh, and I really talk how I write; there are constant asides that I go off on (just like in these parenthesis) and I'm sure it's hard for the average listener to follow along with, but I get so excited and sidetracked and caught up in details. Though I am a fairly concise speaker when I need to be, like in front of the class because I wouldn't want to confuse the kids. I also talk a lot and it drives Boyfriend and my family crazy. They pretty much think "Do you ever draw breath?" but I can't help it. I've got a lot to say and limited time with my family so I gotta get a year's worth of talking out in 3 months and I can't help it if I get a sudden burst of energy or thing of something really awesome when Boyfriend and I get in to bed at night and just have to tell him before I can fall asleep! Sometimes I like to sit back and just listen, too, to everything that is going on around me.

10) I have a blankie. It's not one that I've had since I was born; my Mom got it for me the first Christmas after I moved to Australia. It's sky blue and has snowflakes and penguins on it (I love penguins...we call them pengoos, Boyfriend and I, is that lame in general? Is it lame couple's talk? Probably on both counts but at least we don't call EACH OTHER Pengoo or Snuggle Butt or whatever, right?). It's a little throw blanket and it's down. It's the best blanket to have on the plane cause it just covers me and means I don't have to use the icky airplane blankets (I've heard stories and you really don't want to use airplane blankets). It's also warm in winter and cool in summer and a great blanket to lay on the couch with. It's a security thing because it reminds me of my Mom and home and being loved and wrapped up in a big hug, but I'm not Linus from the Peanuts...I don't take it to work with me or school with me or hide it in my purse or drag it behind me at the shopping center, but it is nice to come home and throw it over me at the end of a long day or to throw over my shoulders at night in bed for just a little bit of extra warmth.

Ummmm, ok, so are you ever coming back again now that you know the dark, dark secrets of my soul? Do you think I'm a freak? Oh well, if you're reading my stuff, you'd might as well know the real me and not just some bright and shiny version. So in summary, I, Little D, am a bad flyer, angry in crowds, a vegetarian to get boys, a reformed OCDer, a concert/classic rock nerd, as well as a yearbook geek (though actually really cool/popular girls from my class were on yearbook), a hater of all school dances in memory minus Senior Prom, a big mouth who can't keep a secret and who talks until her face turns blue, and I'm Linus lite. Stick around if you dare. If not, I understand and it's been nice knowing you! Hah!

But really, things might start to get a bit more interesting around here over the next couple of months because we've got another Ikea trip planned for next weekend(really, this is exciting/interesting to me...we don't have a lot of fun stuff on the Coast, can you tell?) plus a wedding in Terrigal with the whole group, and I've just booked my trip home for the end of October and will actually be celebrating my first Halloween in 5 years! (I told Boyfriend today that we have to raise our kids, should there be any, in America because, really, it's cruel for kids to miss out on Halloween. It's not very big here, no costumes or trick-or-treating...how depressing and that means I won't have any kids' Halloween candy to raid some day!) In the meantime, Boyfriend and I have to decide whether or not we are keeping our little house to rent for the next year or whatever and if not, where we will store all of our stuff until I come back and we find a new place together. There will probably also be a recap of another tearful goodbye between Boyfriend and I, as well as a post to all of you in case I die on my flight home (remember Confession #1?) and then a recap of the crazy people I was forced to sit next to on my flight to San Francisco. Then the process of finding a job and hopefully working lots of hours until Christmas and then Boyfriend coming to California and all of our adventures there this year. There will probably be an influx of posts about me suddenly wondering why I miss my family so much while I'm in Australia because they drive me nuts when I'm home (Mom and Dad and Nae actually had this conversation when they were out to dinner the other night..."I will love being home for a week and then I will hate everyone" haha). I'll also probably have lots of pictures and recipes to share soon because I cook a lot for my parents when I go back home (mostly because they are pretty bad cooks, sorry Mom and Dad but you know it's true, Nae would agree) and Nae is a pretty awesome chef and baker, as well, so I'll share her awesome Thanksgiving and pie and lemon bar and cookie recipes. So keep checking back in and if these posts aren't exciting enough for you guys, then remember you can email me or leave me a comment on what you would like to see me write about instead.

I'm Writing Again, These Letters to You Aren't Much I Know

Hey Guys, just a quick update. I now have an email address for the blog that you can contact me on with any questions, comments, opinions, rants, raves, or whatever you might have: lilDdownunderATgmailDOTcom (Boyfriend says I need to write it that way, so spammers trolling sites looking for the @ symbol don't find my address and start flooding my inbox with spam). I finally realized I should get one after a lovely reader named Liz sent me a comment today asking for some advice on a potential move to Australia and I had to email her back with an email from an old account with a name, if not explained, sounds emo and dumb, but actually has to do with bodyboarding. Anyway, so as to never have to feel dumb and explain that email name again, I created the lilD one. Depending on Liz's questions and her permission to use them, I might post up a question and answer thing on here about moving to Australia since I know a lot of my readers find me through the expat blog network and might be having her same thoughts/questions about moving to Australia. Hope everyone has a great weekend and as always, feel free to leave me comments on here or send me an email about things you'd like to see me write about (whether it be boys, travel, things to do when you are unemployed, or whatever) or just questions you'd like me to answer for you directly!
xoxo Lil D (haha, P.S. We just got Gossip Girl here two weeks ago and Boyfriend called me gossip girl today as I spent all morning reading celeb goss so it was funny when I just realized that I ended the blog the way they end the Gossip Girl episode each week! I'm a dork, I know!)

Up All Night

S is peacefully passed out on my bed right now, still trying to recover from last night’s party and yesterday’s running around to get ready for it.

It was nice to have everyone over to MY house and not to S’s parents place cause it just felt more relaxed and it didn’t matter if there were dishes everywhere or if we were being too loud or all inside, not that they really care, his parents have always been cool when we have people over, it just was more comfortable to me because I hate to leave their kitchen dirty or keep them from sleep for too long. Everyone said nice things about my house, even though it is kind of a shithole. They liked the backyard and, I agree, it is pretty spectacular.

We started talking about the blog because not many people knew I had one. Everyone was interested and wants the link to it, probably to make sure I’m not talking crap about them! Which is understandable because if someone told me they had written something about me online, I’d want to check it out, too, to make sure it was nice. So I’m emailing people the links to this page tomorrow and hopefully they like it. It was good because I got to talk to Tinkerbell about her description on the site, as she had already read it. She was concerned because I had said I was intimidated by her when I first met her and she thought maybe it was something she had done. I didn’t want her to feel bad, because I’ve said to her before that she was intimidating in the beginning, but this time I got to explain it to her and basically all it was is that she was the first of the girls in the group I had met and I was used to the “Mean Girl” mentality of all girls from back home so I just assumed all girls my age were like that everywhere and was just nervous to meet her. Thankfully Tinkerbell is nothing like the girls from back home and that’s why I like being friends with her! But it was good that she read it and that we could have a quick chat about it to clear the air because I definitely didn’t want her to feel weird about anything as she had never done anything to justify me feeling intimidated by her! She also asked about her name and I was like, “Oh, just because of the dress you wore to the races, you looked like Tinkerbell in it.” I don’t know, I thought it was cute, I hope she doesn’t hate the code name too much! Then everyone wanted to know their names on the site and the Soccer Player was like, “I don’t want to be the Soccer Player, I saw myself on film playing soccer last week and I don’t look so good” or something along those lines. Then Croc asked about his name and Croc HATES the internet, wants nothing to do with it, and the Teacher had already warned me about it before she knew I was using code names, but he just laughed and I think he likes that I think of him like Croc Dundee. S totally thinks he’s not going to have any friends left when people start reading this blog, but I just laugh because I like writing down are little group adventures.

So yeah, all yesterday I was rushing around trying to buy all the food for the party, then cooking cupcakes, making lemonade and spinach dip and trying to get the house picked up. S was out back trying to get the yard all set up and just as Tinkerbell and the Farmer and Junior pulled up, he was hopping in the shower and I was throwing on clothes. Junior looked so cute in this shirt S and I had gotten him in CA and he had on little jeans and Etnies and all night long he was scooting around the floor on his butt because I guess he hates crawling. He is such a cute little guy and so flirty, I love it! Then Croc and the Teacher pulled up and started telling us all about their honeymoon to Thailand; bottom line is they wouldn’t recommend going, but it did make for some funny stories! The Teacher and Tinkerbell were a big help to me getting the rest of the food ready that I hadn’t had time to do and then shortly thereafter the Runner, the Smooth Talker, the Hairdresser, and the Soccer Player all showed up. LC and Bob Marley were running late, as they had a family BBQ earlier in the day for LC’s birthday (which is tomorrow). S's brother, who will no longer be called D, but "Bob the Builder" or just "Bob" came over to hang out with us, too, which is good because now that he's not living at home S (who will also be getting a new name on here shortly) doesn't get to see him as often and I know he misses hanging out with Bob. It was nice that he came over and ended up spending the night. The boys hung out in the back and the girls all hung inside. We were going to eat outside until we realized my backyard is pretty pitch black, even with the bonfire going, so everyone piled in to the house. My food went over well and like I said to Tinkerbell, “I love doing this kind of crap” so I was really glad that the hard work paid off and people liked what I had made. Everyone finally hung out by the fire and I sat with Bob Marley who was getting hammered and he was funny to talk to. Like I’ve said before, he is really quiet so it’s always good when he gets going. I think LC was pretty tired from her day so they took off fairly early and Bob Marley yelled back something like, “Fuck off Poofters” as they were leaving my backyard, just out of nowhere and hilarious. The Runner and I walked back in to the house to grab sweatshirts to wear because it is finally starting to get cold out at night here and as we came up to my laundry room a huge possum was swinging around trying to get on the roof. I yelled, “Raccoon” and then felt really dumb because there are no raccoons in Australia, but she knew what I meant. I’m glad I saw it because I was starting to think I was crazy and there weren’t really in my roof and that I was just getting freaked out by the noises of the house settling. Now I’m totally going to call my real estate guys again to have someone come out and catch them because all last night I could barely sleep listening to the possum run around in my ceiling. Croc Dundee then told us stories about trying to wrestle his friend “Singlet” who will hold on to you like a dog with a bone when he’s got you around the neck, but who can’t throw a punch at all. Croc said even the Hairdresser was able to beat Singlet up, which had us all cracking up because Singlet is so stocky and tough looking, you would never guess a girl could punch him out! Croc, the Teacher, the Hairdresser and the Soccer Player all got ready to go after that; they were off to play a prank on someone else in the group before going home and going to bed.

Just before, I went in to the fridge to make lunch from leftovers for me and S and all I found was the last hamburger with a big ole bite taken out of it-Thanks Guys! Anyway, it was a pretty mellow night but everyone seemed to have a good time. I know S really did, so I’m glad.